There was never any absolute clarity on the rules governing vintage vehicles in India. So, it makes perfect sense to straighten that out, isn’t it! Hence, this development. The Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari, has said that the registration process of vintage motor vehicles has been formalised. As per the press release, the main aim is to “preserve and promote the heritage of vintage vehicles”.

The first question is an obvious one – what vehicles qualify as vintage? Here’s the centre’s answer – all two- and four-wheelers at least 50 years old and maintained in their original form without any substantial overhaul. So, 50-year-old trucks or buses or any other vehicle with more than four wheels cannot be deemed vintage. Interesting.

And, what is the registration process? First, there’s an application form that the owners will have to fill and accompany that with a valid insurance policy. Alongside, pay the new registration fees – Rs 20,000 – or Rs 5,000 for re-registration. In the case of imported vehicles, the bill of entry must be submitted. And, for a vehicle that was previously registered in India, the old Registration Certificate needs to be presented.

Once the documentation is complete, the State Registering Authority shall issue a Registration Certificate within 60 days. What about the registration number? Vehicles that already have one can retain them. For a new registration, however, a new format has been devised. Those vehicles will get a number in this format – “XX VA YY ****”. The ‘VA’ stands for vintage. The ‘XX’ denotes a state code, for example, PB – Punjab, KA – Karnataka, MH – Maharashtra, etc. ‘YY’ is a two-letter series, while the four asterisks will be a number between 0001 and 9999.

So, you might wonder, what’s with the captivating headline? That’s for the final rule defined for vintage vehicles – they are not allowed to be driven on roads for regular and commercial purposes. If that’s the case, what’s the point of standardising the registration process? Or am I missing something here?

Photos credit: petrolheadmonkey